Animator Misao Abe, together with daughter and fellow-animator, Ayumi Abe, have announced that veteran animator Kunihiro Abe has passed away. He was 50 years old. His wife, Misao, said that he passed away due to illness. Meanwhile, his daughter, Ayumi, said that he “couldn’t live as anything other than being an animator”. She also shared an illustration of his featuring the Gundam Barbatos.

https://twitter.com/ishikoro18/status/1030477555348848642

His extensive work on animation primarily involved mecha anime. In particular, he has worked on a ton of Gundam titled throughout his career. These include Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: The Afterglow of Zeon, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed C.E.73: Stargazer, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Mobile Suit Gundam UC, Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam: Reconguista in G, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt. Yes folks, he worked on a ton of Gundam anime.

Having worked on the Gundam franchise means that he has also worked with the great Yoshiyuki Tomino. In fact, good’ol “Kill’em All Tomino” showered him with praises when he worked on Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation. According to anime director Kuo Matsuo, he impressed the not-easily impressed, demanding, and opinionated director by showing that he could do scenes which involve both mecha and humans. Of course, this is hard to pull off, and the feat got him in Tomino’s good graces.

However, he also worked on AIC, and he’s credited for other mecha anime as well. But there are also a few non-mecha anime when he worked over there. His anime work over at AIC include Bubblegum Crisis, Dangaioh, Vampire Princess Miyu, Dragon Century, Megazone 23 Part III, Sol Bianca, Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, Armitage III, El Hazard – The Magnificent World, and Blue Gender.

Thank you for all your hard work! Rest in peace.

Sources: Misao Abe and Ayumi Abe twitter pages